Law Association waits for advice on removing CJ

Chief Justice Ivor Archie is once more in a quarrel with two judges this time over a Judiciary release issued last Monday to clarify the outcome of litigation between Chief Justice Ivor Archie and the Law Association at the Privy Council.
Chief Justice Ivor Archie is once more in a quarrel with two judges this time over a Judiciary release issued last Monday to clarify the outcome of litigation between Chief Justice Ivor Archie and the Law Association at the Privy Council.

JADA LOUTOO

THE LAW Association is expected to receive advice by next week from its two external counsel on whether there are grounds to approach the prime minister to invoke the impeachment clause of the Constitution against Chief Justice Ivor Archie.

The association’s president, Douglas Mendes, SC, confirmed this last Thursday. After receiving the advice from the two senior counsel, the council is expected to discuss the recommendations and take them to the association’s membership.

The two senior counsel retained by the association were Eamon Harrison Courtenay, a former AG of Belize, and president of the Grenada Bar Association Francis Alexis. On Tuesday, Archie issued a media statement criticising recent newspaper reports. He said it appeared someone was trying to hound him out of office, and he wanted to know who.

He described an article in last week's Sunday Express as “recycled innuendos.” He also said, “The Chief Justice categorically rejects the false and fabricated insinuation that he has ever sought to influence any judicial officer in their sentencing or other judicial function.

“The Chief Justice notes the now transparent recurring modus operandi of seeking to hound him out of office using tired tactics of innuendo with reliance and comment on that innuendo.

“These tactics surely cause one to wonder and ask who so desperately wants this Chief Justice out of office and why. While the Chief Justice supports a free and independent press, he calls upon all media organisations to perform their duties and functions responsibly and in the public interest and to avoid muckraking.”

On Wednesday, Senior Counsel Israel Khan wrote to Mendes to get an update on the association's investigation, but also advised that it "must come to an abrupt end or be completed so that the Office of the Chief Justice can be restored to its prestigious status."

Khan has been very vocal on the issue, and on numerous occasions called for Archie to resign. Archie earlier this year challenged the Law Association’s investigation of allegations of misconduct against him. His complaints about the process were dismissed by the local appeal court and by the Privy Council. That ruling paved the way for the association to continue with its investigation.

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"Law Association waits for advice on removing CJ"

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